The present invention relates to a knit fabric for forming a pocket reinforced by rib knitting or the like in an upper opening part integrally, for example, in the front body portion of knit clothes such as a sweater and cardigan, and a knitting method of such knit fabric.
Generally, when forming a pocket in the front body portion of knit clothes, a knit fabric formed in a shape of a pocket is made, and this knit fabric is sewn in a desired position to form a pocket.
In such manner, however, the knit fabric for the pocket is manually sewn into the front body portion of the knit clothes, and the knit fabric for a pocket formed by knitting tends to curl inward in the peripheral part and is hard to handle, and the knit fabric for a pocket is easily deformed, and it takes considerable labor in this sewing work, and the productivity is extremely poor.
In particular, if the knit fabric has patterns, pattern matching is very difficult, and the above problems are particularly notable.
To solve such problems, the present applicant previously proposed a method of using a flat knitting machine comprising at least a pair of front knitting needles and opposing rear knitting needles, and knitting the front body portion (the front fabric) from the lower end to the pocket knitting position by the front knitting needle, knitting the front body portion in the pocket area (the pocket front fabric) by the rear knitting needle, feeding the knitting yarn also to the rear knitting needle at the pocket position, knitting the front part of the pocket (the pocket face side) by the front knitting needle, and knitting the pocket with the side edge of the pocket face side being braided into the front fabric, thereby forming the pocket integrally in a state in which both side edges are braided into the front fabric. Such a disclosure has been made in a Japanese patent application which has been laid open under publication No. Hei 2-300357, on which examination has not yet been requested.
The opening of the pocket in knit clothes must be reinforced by rib knitting or the like for the sake of design or function, but in the previous proposal of the present applicant, when knitting the pocket, stitches are formed by both front knitting needles and rear knitting needles to form a "full" state, and the rib knitting formed by the front knitting needles and rear knitting needles is not achieved, and therefore the knit fabric of the pocket was knit in the same texture as the front fabric of the front body portion and was less tenacious, and the commercial value was lowered.
Accordingly, in order to reinforce the opening portion of the pocket, the opening was folded over to form a tubular shape, and padding was inserted into this tube, and both ends of the pocket face side was sewn to the front fabric, but such reinforcing process of the opening caused lower productivity.